STRANGE BEDFELLOWS – ARCHDPDX & EMO

Dear Advocates for Life,

Western Oregon Catholics are on the verge of possibly losing some of our churches and schools: properties bought and paid for with hard-earned "Catholic" money. We have already paid out more than fifty- three million dollars. The "problem" was a climate that enabled an anti-Culture of Life and Family attitude. Although only a handful priests acted out, the climate is still thriving and has to stop. This is another scandal in our Church.

When you're a parent it's important to separate your children from bad influences to keep them on the straight and narrow. The same holds true for relationships in adulthood and organizations. They too are affected by peer pressure and lose their way. On Monday, March 7th, I attended the Interfaith Advocacy Day put on by the Ecumenical Ministries of Oregon (EMO). Oregon Catholic Conference represented by Bob Castagna and Anthony Granados were there representing Oregon Catholics. (The head of EMO, Philip Kennedy-Wong, was at Oregon Catholic Conferences Advocacy Day on Feb 21st. and the latter Interfaith Advocacy Day.)

EMO's Interfaith Advocacy Day reflected the member churches support for same-sex marriage. The listing on EMO's website includes homosexual churches : ie. Universal Fellowship of Metropolitan Community Churches and all member churches seem to encourage same-sex marriage, some affliated with Basic Rights Oregon, a pro-activist homosexual organization. Check their links. Connect these dots.

http://www.emoregon.org/aboutemo.htm then: EMO Denominations
http://mccchurch.org/
http://www.basicrights.org/

Oregon Catholic Conference's legislative agenda has reflected the EMO agenda throughout the years. They have shied away from the Roman Catholic positions of supporting unborn life and monogamous heterosexuality. Even the packets distributed at both advocacy days were similar down to the color, identical font, spacing and same pages of some content. And remember the election? Oregon Catholic Conference had voter registration done on targeted Catholic churches by the EMO-connected National Interfaith Committee for Worker Justice http://www.nicwj.org/ out of Chicago using the same name as the U.S. Bishops: "Faithful Citizenship Program". I asked Bob Castagna if he thought Oregon priests would assume that this group was from the US Bishops.
In this climate, Catholic priests are feeling comfortable about speaking up for homosexual activity and use the judgmental and inaccurate term "homophobe" for those of us who support Roman Catholic Church teaching (Catholic Sentinel March 11 Letters to the Editor).

From the Vatican - Cardinal Arinzi, Prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacrament states "The question arises; take the Catechism of the Catholic Church. It says it is not condemning a person for having homosexual tendency. We don't condemn anybody for that. But a person stands condemned for acting on it.” Pope John Paul II suggested that the world-wide push for same-sex unions is part of an "ideology of evil". “It is legitimate and necessary to ask oneself if this is not perhaps part of a new ideology of evil, perhaps more insidious and hidden, which attempts to pit human rights against the family and against man.”

VOCAL was sent this information. It connects more dots. Judge for yourselves.

Oregon Churches and organizations calling themselves Catholic have homosexual componants that are not in compliance with Roman Catholic Church teaching.

http://www.catholiclesbians.org/ click on "Resources" then click on "Lesbian and Gay Friendly Places" then click on "Oregon"
http://www.koinoniacommunity.org/ Koinonia Catholic Community - Performs same-sex "marriages"(also a member of Basic Rights Oregon)

A distubing note on this group. Click on music. Koinonia former directors include Tom Conry and Patrick Loomis do music for the OREGON CATHOLIC PRESS. Are we singing songs that could be indoctrinating us?

Let's help the Climate of Oregon. We have to be good stewards of our money, time and talents.
Over the years the value of the relationship between the Oregon Catholic Conference and Ecumenical Ministries of Oregon has been questioned. VOCAL feels that it is time to end this relationship. In light of our bankruptcy, the lack of Roman Catholic teaching being understood and questioned, it is time for a real change. Silence implies consent of the support of anti-Catholic teachings.
Can we afford spiritually and financially to continue as we have? Does this truly help us help others serve the Living God?

It is the Springtime of the Laity following Jesus Christ:
The Way, the Truth and the Life.